Meeting the Challenge
Poor sexual and reproductive health is a source of enormous suffering for millions of the world's poorest people. High levels of mortality and morbidity as a result of sexual and reproductive health problems compromise efforts to reduce poverty. Yet in many countries the issues remain invisible and taboo. Despite two decades of sustained effort, sexual and reproductive rights are poorly understood and articulated and progress on improving sexual and reproductive health indicators is slow.
We aim to respond to these challenges, using research to raise the profile of sexual and reproductive health and rights in developing countries and working in partnership to find innovative solutions.
Latest News
What's new for September 2008?
Blogging on the Millennium Development Goals
Realising Rights have entered into the debates around maternal health on the UN blog to accompany the High Level Event on the MDGs.
Evidence to UK parliamentary enquiry
The consortium has responded to a call for evidence from the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health.
Partnership with PANOS
Our partner BRAC has started work with PANOS on communicating sexual and reproductive health research to the media.
Briefing on masculinity
Gender inequalities are shaping how the HIV epidemic evolves and in order to engage men as ‘part
of the solution’ we must deal with issues of male power. Read Men, Sex and HIV: Directions for
Politicising Masculinities (pdf).
Meeting on the political economy of sex work
Despite various conferences and declarations reliable research and policy analysis of sex work and prostitution as a gender, development, human rights and public health issue is lacking. Later this month IDS will host a meeting to begin the process of planning ways to forge links between academics, policy analysts and sex workers.
New work on abortion
Thousands of women die every year because they were unable to access a safe abortion. Find out why and what can be done to overcome the barriers that prevent women accessing appropriate health services.
>>Realising Rights factsheet on safe abortion (pdf)
>>IDS Bulletin on Unsafe Abortion: A Development Issue
>>Issues in focus page on abortion
New journal article
Our colleague from Kenya, Joanna Crichton, has been published in Health Policy and Planning writing on family planning content within national health policy.
Work with informal providers of healthcare in the news in Bangladesh
Read newspaper coverage, in Bangla, of BRAC's workshop on formal and informal providers of sexual reproductive health services.
MenEngage at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico
Read the presentation given by Jerker Edstrom of the Institute of Development Studies or a summary of the session (pdf).
Realising Rights at the AIDS Conference
The conference saw the official launch of the Global Mapping of Pleasure. To find out more read the press release (pdf).
Discover what other sessions we are involved in.
Read news from the conference on the STEPS Centre blog.
Monograph from BRAC now available to download
Learn about the practices and restrictions surrounding
menstruation, concerns surrounding infertility and
its causes and the patterns of health seeking behaviour of Bangladeshi women to treat their
menstrual illnesses. (pdf)
Study on sexual and reproductive health concerns of married men and access to services in rural Bangladesh
Realising Rights partner, Dr. Farah Mahjabeen, has provided an update on BRAC's work around men's sexual health and informal health care providers.
BRAC will be communicating this research through a series of workshops with formal and informal health care providers.
Institute of Development Studies in the news
The Realising Rights letter to the Guardian on unsafe abortion was picked up by our local paper the Evening Argus.
Factsheet on syphilis
12 million people are infected with syphilis each year despite the means to prevent onward transmission and the existence of screening technologies and inexpensive treatment. This factsheet explains how policy makers can help tackle syphilis as part of their work on reproductive and maternal health. (pdf)
The Realising Rights Newsletter is now available
This regular update from our partners highlights news, resources and meetings.
Abortion in the news
Unsafe abortion has had a high profile in the UK in recent weeks due to proposed changes to domestic legislation. A Realising Rights' letter to the Guardian Editor focussed on the international situation.
Media Prizes!
As a way of increasing the quality and quantity of media coverage of research, as well as interesting journalists in reporting on research, APHRC sponsored two journalist awards.
Bringing sexy back!
"A Mongolian sex worker once said the workshop led
her to see that just telling people to use condoms is
like telling someone to use a saddle to ride a horse –
there’s a lot more to both safe sex and horse riding!”
Cheryl Overs, Asia Pacific Network of Sexworkers
A fascinating insight into how safer sex can be made more sexy. Brought to you in partnership with The Pleasure Project the Global Mapping of Pleasure identifies when and where pleasure is being used as an effective tool to promote safer sex.
Publications Update!
All Realising Rights resources from 2007 are now listed on the website. Please see the publications
pages for more on this. Contact us for more information.
Research Highlights
IDS work
on sexuality
Key issues guide on universal access to sexual and reproductive health services
The guide examins factors that inhibit access to and use of SRH services...>>
Gender and sexuality
A Siyanda gender and development quick guide... >>
Eldis key issues guide on SRH rights
Aimed at policymakers, donors and practioners...>>
Sexuality and Rights Workshop
Report of the Worskhop, January 2007, BRAC...>>
